Freezing drizzle leaves bitter cold temps in its wake

Another round of icy weather — similar to what hit Friday — could be in store for Monday and Tuesday, the National Weather Service says.

Saturday ushered in chilly weather, with temperatures hitting a high of just 16 at the Nebraska City airport.

Sunday was also expected to be cold, with a high of 16, but winds, which gusted to 30 miles per hour Saturday morning, will die down.

Normal high temperatures for this time of year are in the low 30s, the weather service said.

The frigid weather followed Friday’s freezing drizzle, which made walking and driving dangerous.

More freezing drizzle, and possibly some freezing rain and light snow, were forecast for Monday afternoon into Tuesday.

A tenth of an inch to a quarter of an inch of moisture is possible, the weather service said.

Temperatures were expected to reach the upper 20s to low 30s from Monday through Thursday before another blast of cold on Friday, when temperatures were forecast to peak at 16 before dropping to near zero Friday night.

The freezing drizzle that hit Friday lasted until about 10 p.m., but Eppley Airfield in Omaha reported light, dusty snow into Saturday morning, according to Cathy Zapotocny, a meteorologist at the weather service’s office in Valley.

On Friday afternoon, a Southwest Airlines flight from Las Vegas slid off an icy runway at Eppley Airfield. There were no injuries, but the airport was closed for about 2½ hours.

Also on Friday, about 1,200 Omaha Public Power District customers were without power. By Saturday morning, almost all the outages had been resolved.